About the Row Between Adobe and Apple

Below is more from Information Management’s Webcast by DM Radio, “The Last Mile: Data Visualization in a Mashed-Up”. This Webcast was hosted by Eric Kavanagh and included BI consultants William Laurent and Malcolm Chisholm, and InetSoft's Product Manager Sherrie Thompson.

EK: Well, you see those broken icons and they just drive me crazy. I thought at first with my iPhone, you just have to download the plug-in, but no. Malcolm, let’s face it standards really do enable interoperability and agility and so forth, yet they really seem hard to adopt. What do you think about this concept of Adobe and Apple not getting along, and what impact is that going to have on mashups and data visualization?

Malcolm Chisholm (MC): Well I don’t think it’s good. But in the end some standard will emerge. I think there is plenty going on at the moment. There’s a lot of promise that can be turned into reality right now. I’d just like to go back to your earlier point about the evolving role of IT. That discussion reminded me a lot of the work I have done with business rules and business rules engines, where you try to move something over to the end user and let them take over roles that were predominantly IT. The one thing IT can do well and does support is testing. Now there is no reason why a mashup is going to be just right. So IT can maybe help users in the testing arena, making sure everything is correct, checking the output, checking the results that they are going to interpret. I think that is one thing that they can do. That also frees IT up from its traditional way of working as well, but it is a competency that IT definitely has.

How HTML5 Replaced Adobe Flash

HTML5's rise to dominance over Adobe Flash represents a significant shift in web development and multimedia delivery. This transition, driven by technological advancements and changing user needs, reflects the evolving landscape of the internet.

The Rise of Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash, originally developed by Macromedia and later acquired by Adobe Systems, was once the cornerstone of interactive web content. Launched in the mid-1990s, Flash became the go-to solution for rich media, offering support for animations, video playback, and interactive applications. Flash's versatility allowed developers to create engaging websites, games, and multimedia experiences that were previously impossible with HTML alone.

Limitations of Flash

Despite its early success, Flash had several significant drawbacks:

1. Performance Issues: Flash content often consumed a substantial amount of system resources, leading to slow performance and high battery usage, especially on mobile devices.
2. Security Vulnerabilities: Flash was notorious for its security vulnerabilities, frequently being targeted by malware and requiring constant updates to patch exploits.
3. Lack of Mobile Support: With the advent of smartphones and tablets, Flash struggled to adapt. Notably, Apple decided not to support Flash on iOS devices, citing performance, battery life, and security concerns.
4. Proprietary Nature: Flash was a proprietary technology controlled by Adobe, limiting the openness and interoperability desired by the web community.

The Emergence of HTML5

HTML5, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), was designed to address the shortcomings of earlier web standards and provide a more robust, versatile foundation for modern web applications. Launched in 2008 and finalized in 2014, HTML5 introduced several key features that directly competed with Flash:

1. Native Multimedia Support: HTML5 natively supports audio and video playback through the <audio> and <video> tags, eliminating the need for third-party plugins like Flash. This provided a more efficient and secure way to handle multimedia content.
2. Canvas and SVG: The <canvas> element and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) enabled developers to create rich graphics and animations directly within the browser, offering functionality similar to Flash but with better performance and flexibility.
3. Cross-Platform Compatibility: HTML5 was designed with cross-platform compatibility in mind, ensuring that content could run seamlessly on desktops, smartphones, and tablets. This was a significant advantage over Flash, which struggled on mobile devices.
4. Improved Performance: HTML5 was optimized for better performance and lower power consumption, addressing one of the critical weaknesses of Flash.

Industry Adoption and the Decline of Flash

Several factors accelerated the adoption of HTML5 over Flash:

1. Browser Support: Major web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, quickly adopted HTML5 standards, providing robust support for its features and phasing out Flash support.
2. Mobile Revolution: The explosive growth of mobile devices highlighted Flash's limitations and made HTML5's cross-platform capabilities more attractive to developers.
3. Security Concerns: Ongoing security issues with Flash made it increasingly untenable, prompting developers to seek more secure alternatives like HTML5.
4. Corporate Endorsement: Tech giants such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft endorsed HTML5, further cementing its status as the future of web development. Apple's decision not to support Flash on iOS was a critical blow that hastened its decline.

The End of Flash

Adobe announced the end-of-life for Flash in 2017, ceasing updates and distribution by the end of 2020. This marked the official end of an era, with the web community fully transitioning to HTML5 and other modern technologies.

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